Fall 2022 Board Meeting Summary

The Bates Board of Trustees met on campus for its fall meeting from Thursday, October 27, through Saturday, October 29, 2022. Every standing committee of the Board met in person during this meeting or virtually in the surrounding days to conduct their work. Trustees were joined by faculty, staff, student, or Alumni Council representatives at most of its committee meetings and plenary sessions.

This was the first fall meeting of the Board on campus in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trustees attended an event with faculty and staff in the newly-renovated Dana Hall focused on the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning (CITL). They also toured the Chase Hall renovation project. Trustees joined faculty, staff, and students for a celebration of the Bates Campaign and held their annual fall meeting with the Committee on Faculty Governance. The five newest trustees attended their first Board meeting and participated in orientation.

The Board took part in a workshop led by staff from various departments focused on the health and wellness challenges faced by students and the resources available to them. Trustees also heard updates on equity and inclusion at Bates, fundraising, the endowment, the FY22 and FY23 budgets, college infrastructure projects, the presidential search, and how the outcomes of the current Supreme Court cases about race-conscious admissions might impact Bates. Actions taken by the Board included approving the FY22 financial audit results and naming representatives to the Bates–Morse Mountain Corporation.

The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for February 2–4, 2023.

Clayton Spencer
President

John Gillespie ’80, P’13, P’18
Chair of the Board of Trustees